Oil subsidy fraud conviction secured

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Thursday secured the conviction of Rowaye Jubril, the Managing Director of Brila Energy Limited, before Justice Lateefa Okunnu of the Lagos State High Court, sitting in Ikeja.
The convict was arraigned alongside his company, Brila Energy Limited, sometime in November 2012 on a 13-count charge bordering on forgery and obtaining money by false pretence to the tune of N963,796,199.85.
The convict had defrauded the Federal Government by falsely claiming, through a forged document, that the money represented the subsidy accrued to Brila Energy Limited under the Petroleum Support Fund for the importation of 13,155,807MT or 17,393,767 litres of Petroleum Motor Spirit, popularly known as petrol.
The convict had pleaded not guilty to the charges, thereby setting the stage for his trial.
The prosecution counsel, S. K. Atteh, in the course of the trial, tendered several documents that were admitted in evidence by the court and presented witnesses who testified against the accused.
Counsel to the defendant had pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy, saying that the accused was hypertensive and diabetic.
Delivering judgement, Justice Okunnu sentenced the accused to 10 years imprisonment and ordered the company to pay the sum of N963,796,199.85 million in restitution to the Federal Government.